1 50 The Course, the Camp, the Chase 



Eegimental Board was always assembled, and, after hearing 

 the evidence, the man was duly declared to be a deserter, 

 when he was struck off the strength of the battalion and 

 became a civilian until he had been captured, tried by a 

 court-martial, and sentenced. An anomaly of the service 

 was that between the man's apprehension and his sentence 

 the Government refused to clothe him, so the captain of 

 his company was obliged to see that he was decently 

 clothed. During this period, however, he received no pay, 

 out of which stoppages could have been made to recover 

 the cost of what was supplied to him, so that the captain 

 had to advance the money out of his own pocket, and ran 

 the risk of losing it altogether if the man destroyed the 

 clothing. Otherwise he received the suit back when the 

 man received prison garments, and could recover any loss 

 he had sustained when the man returned to duty and again 

 received pay, perhaps in a year or eighteen months' time. 

 If, however, the man was sentenced to be discharged, the 

 captain could only receive back the clothes, and must then 

 be at any loss there might happen to be, 



Fashions hold good in regiments just as they do in 

 polite society, and the popular fad of the moment was to 

 destroy the clothing that was issued, and sometimes more 

 than once. The unfortunate captains were being heavily 

 mulcted, for there was also a " fad " at headquarters 

 at that period — started by some foolish Member of 

 Parliament in the House of Commons — that most 

 deserters should be dismissed from the service, as 

 being unworthy to follow the colours they had voluntarily 

 deserted. 



Being determined to put a stop to this practice, the 

 next man that tore up his clothing was duly measured by 



